Fatima Lette – Exploring The Quran For Women Lessons From The Prophets Life #04
AI: Summary ©
The interviewer discusses the importance of the Prophet's life and his success in being praised for his accomplishments. They also talk about his connection to people and his compassionate approach to relationships. The interviewer provides examples of how the Prophet uses his name to describe people and expresses pride in his accomplishments. They also mention the importance of gratitude and showing off one's success.
AI: Summary ©
And we're discussing the life of the Prophet
ﷺ through the lens of the Qur'an.
So obviously there's portions in the beginning of
his life where we don't have necessarily ayats,
verses, that would directly correlate or directly, I
should say, explain something happening in his life.
However, the Qur'an correlates with all parts
of your life.
So we're able to pull verses and understand
the Qur'an in the light of the
life of the Prophet ﷺ.
So today, what I primarily want to focus
on is providing a little bit of context
to the life or the family of the
Prophet ﷺ.
So in the next session that we will
have, which I will not be here for,
so Asala Samreena, I know, just one week
though, Asala Samreena will cover.
We'll talk about Halima Sa'diyah, a very prominent
person in the life of the Prophet ﷺ.
But before we get there, it's important for
us to talk about his parents, to talk
about his family, the lineage he comes from.
And what we understand is that Allah ﷻ
tells us that the Prophet ﷺ comes from
a very noble lineage, like he comes from
a lineage of prophets.
And it's not that his father was a
prophet or his grandfather was a prophet, not
in that way.
But more so when you trace back their
lineage through the Arab land, you'll find that
he comes from the lineage of people who
are considered to be righteous and people who
did the right thing, essentially.
And so the Prophet ﷺ's parents, his father
was named Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib, and his
mother's name was Amina bint Wahab.
Now his father and Amina, they got married,
and when they got married, they were married
for two years before she was expected.
And his father traveled at the age of
25 for business, and on his way back
from that travel, he then got sick and
he passed away.
And so the Prophet ﷺ was left with
his mother, and she essentially went through her
pregnancy alone.
She didn't have Abdullah there, she didn't have
much support, you would say.
Amina was a literate person in the sense
that she had a lot of qualifications, not
just reading and writing and literacy, which was
very rare to have a woman have so
much education.
She was a very well-educated person, and
she came from a very noble tribe.
So she kind of had support in that
way, but not the support of like a
spouse.
When Allah ﷻ talks about pregnancy in the
Qur'an, there's different ayat or different ways
that He presents it.
You have that Allah ﷻ says, يَخْلُكُكُمْ فِي
بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ خَلْقًا مِنْ بَعْدِ خَلْقًا فِي ذُلُمَاتٍ
ثَلَاثًا That Allah is the One who has
created you all, and He's created you in
the wombs of your mother, and then He's
created creation after that.
Like this is how generations keep coming, and
it's like within time and darkness and all
these things, there are so many things that
you don't know that is happening, that happens
and then the child comes.
And so this is out of the, you
would say that the ability, that Allah ﷻ
has full capability that a child comes into
this world.
And so here is Amina in a place
where she's experiencing something for the very first
time, and it's very scary, but she doesn't
have anyone really with her that she could
truly lean on to throughout this scary time.
But she herself, we have narrations obviously through
different people, and one of the people that
was there for her was the mother of
Abdurrahman bin Auf, and Abdurrahman bin Auf, may
Allah be pleased with him, ends up becoming
Muslim.
So this is how we can have some
narrations that point to what was she feeling
in that time.
And so it narrates that she would have
very vivid dreams during her pregnancy.
And these dreams were dreams of like ease.
She would dream of light.
She would dream of things like an angelic
presence around her, that she would dream of
things that people would ask her, like, are
you not suffering?
Because it's not easy, and it seems like,
you know how sometimes, I don't know, but
I know from my friends how sometimes people
are like, oh, you carry well.
So that's what people are saying to her.
My mom comes at me on the Internet,
right?
So people would say these things to her,
like, oh, it seems like it's easy, it
seems like it's going well, and that's because
she said it is.
Like, I don't know what the experience is
supposed to be, but for her, this was
her experience.
And she would have dreams, and one of
those dreams was that she would have a
dream that someone would come to her and
said, this baby, you should name him Ahmed,
right?
You should name this child Ahmed.
Now it wasn't the custom of that time
that they would name the child before the
seventh day.
And it also wasn't the custom of that
time that the mother would just decide on
the name of the child alone.
It would be something that typically, and we
still see these in cultures, that typically the
father's tribe or family or side of the
family would then name the baby, okay?
And I know you guys are still in
this class, so I'm trying not to get,
you know, fought, you know?
But in the Quran, Allah swt also talks
about this beautiful name.
And it's one of the things that shows
towards a prophecy, which is something that is
saying that, okay, in the future, this is
what will happen, of the prophecies that are
coming.
Allah swt says, إِذْ قَالَ عِيسَىٰ بِنُ مَرِيَمِ
When Isa, the son of Mary, which is
very, like, ironic, and nothing's irony in Islam,
but, like, it's very ironic that we're talking
about the birth of the prophecy, salam, and
in this particular ayah, Allah swt is also
referring to Isa, and referring to him as
he refers to the majority in the Quran,
as the son of Maryam.
Really showing and highlighting, one, the miraculous nature
of Isa alayhi salam, but also the strength
of Maryam alayhi salam to be, essentially, what's
known as a single mother, you know, raising
this child in a society that is already
looking down at her.
So Allah swt says, وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَىٰ بِنُ
مَرِيَمِ When Isa, the son of Mary, said,
يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلِ O children of Israel, إِنِّي
رَسُولُ اللَّهِ That I am indeed a messenger
of Allah.
إِذَيكُمْ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ مِنَ التَّوْرَاتِ I
have come to you to confirm what you
already have and what you know of previous
scripture, meaning the Torah.
وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِ And I'm here
to give you the good news and the
glad tidings that I'm not the final messenger,
that rather there will be a messenger to
come after me.
إِسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ His name will be Ahmed.
So Allah swt tells us in the Qur
'an that there are prophecies already of the
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. coming and that
his name would be Ahmed.
So now the mother of the Prophet s
.a.w. is dreaming and she's sleeping and
in her dreams she's having this dream and
this vision that you should name him Ahmed.
Now when it came time for her to
give birth, we know in Surat al-Manyam
that Allah swt talks about the pains of
labor.
And these pains of labor drove Maryam a
.s. to a date palm tree because that
is the nature of labor.
It is something that is very difficult.
Allah swt also says in Surat al-Luqman
وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِالْوَالِدَيْهِ هَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَى
وَهْنًا And we have enjoined, we have commanded,
we have given the advice to mankind that
when it comes to your parents, especially your
mother, you should be kind.
Why?
Because she's cared you and she suffered weakness
over weakness.
And that weakness is the pains of labor,
the difficulty of labor, and then bringing a
child into the world.
And then I feel like I'm giving you
guys a PTSD.
And then on top of that, feeding the
child because in other places Allah swt talks
about the breastfeeding and how that's pain and
takes time and all these things.
So Allah swt sums up the entire process
by saying that it's وَهْنًا عَلَى وَهْنًا It's
not a time of like yes, I'm God's
strongest soldier, I can do this.
It's a time of what, why did I
get myself into this situation?
It is very difficult.
And so Allah swt says وَفِي صَالُهُ فِي
عَمَيْنِي أَنِّشْكُرُوا لِي وَلِي وَارِدَيكَ إِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرِ That
then she weans you or she feeds you
for two years so you have the responsibility
of being grateful to Allah but also being
grateful to your parents.
And the reason why I'm highlighting this ayah
is because when we get into the birth
story of Amina it was known that her
family they didn't have like they suffered very
much in birth.
It was like a thing.
They would say genetically we go through it.
And Amina, she comments about the birth process
and said she couldn't believe that it was
so quick.
It was very easy.
The Prophet ﷺ was born in the night
time.
And Ibn Qayyim, he says the wisdom of
him being born in the night time was
because it gave more privacy.
Right?
It gave more privacy to Amina and it
gave more privacy to the birth of the
Prophet ﷺ.
Like I mentioned before the mother of Abd
al-Rahman ibn A'uf she was there
and she was present and she was helping.
And she says that while she was helping
Amina give birth to Muhammad ﷺ she just
saw this light that was so bright that
she looked away for a second and when
she looked back the baby was there.
And it was the entire thing was miraculous.
The entire thing from beginning to end was
miraculous.
They had a superstitious practice back in that
time where they would take a clay pot.
I feel bad for all the CNN students
because we literally covered well at least it's
been a week since we covered this.
But they would take a clay pot and
they would put it on the head of
the child.
You know?
There's different superstitions.
Every culture has it by the way.
You know get your kid this like amulet
and then they'll be okay.
There's different things.
You like make them drink this three times
they're going to be fine.
Evil eye will go away.
Every culture has superstitions.
Superstitions.
So their superstition was that if you put
the clay pot on the child's head upside
down it would then protect that child.
So every time they went to put the
clay pot on the head of the Prophet
it broke in half.
So then they would give another one it
would break in half.
Eventually they decided it's a waste of time.
We need to stop doing this.
So Abdul Muttalib the grandfather of the Prophet
he comes they tell him the baby is
born.
He goes to the Kaaba and he Abdul
Muttalib had so much love for the Prophet.
So much love for him so much so
that he used to write poetry about him.
And the poems were so cute.
You know.
And it's like this this like this grand
guy like Abdul Muttalib was by no means
was he like a cutesy grandfather.
Right.
But he would write poems and say that
the day that you were born is the
day that my entire world was illuminated.
You know.
He had so much love for the Prophet.
When he went to the Kaaba and they
started to tell him like you have a
grandson.
He says yes I know.
They said what will you name him.
He said I'm going to name him Muhammad.
And they said to him Muhammad.
Now the Prophet was not the first person
to be named Muhammad.
It was just a very uncommon name.
Ironically.
Right.
If you are to Google because Google is
free.
What is the most common male name it
is Muhammad.
Now.
Currently.
Right.
But at that time it was the most
uncommon name.
The reason being is because people thought or
they felt that there is a correlation and
it's true with what you name your child.
Want an easy going child.
Okay.
Suhail or Sahil is probably one of the
best names for you.
Okay.
Right.
So I have a friend she named her
daughter Nusayba.
Nusayba was one of the warriors.
And then everyday she's like I don't know
why I did that.
This girl fights me everyday.
And I was like seems like a personal
problem.
I'm just playing.
So they thought it was very ambitious to
name him Muhammad.
The reason being is because Muhammad means the
one who is praised very often.
Okay.
The one who is praised very often.
So they told him that aren't you like
shooting for the stars.
You know like I know you're excited to
have a grandson.
And many people are excited to have a
grandson.
You know there are people who have kids
and they you know their kid is like
the most amazing child in the world.
And everyone else is looking and they're like
this kid is very average.
But that's okay.
It's okay.
We love that for you.
So this is kind of the energy that
people are giving Abdulmutallab.
They're like you're so overexcited about this child
that you're naming him Muhammad the one who
is praised very often.
Which is beautiful.
But now what do we know?
We know that whenever someone says Muhammad the
response is what?
Sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
May God have his peace and blessings and
mercy upon him.
Which is beautiful because it's not only you
praising him but also we're asking Allah to
send praise and blessings upon him.
So we understand that the life of the
Prophet ﷺ was miraculous before he was even
born.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala set him up
and destined him for greatness.
Which is something for us to take into
account for our own selves.
Right?
Sometimes we limit.
We limit in our minds what we're able
to accomplish.
We think for ourselves that this is the
life trajectory that I have.
This is the plan that I want.
This is how I'm going to be when
I turn this age I'm going to do
this.
I'm going to go to this school.
I'm going to be like this.
I'm going to be that.
And you may think you may think in
your mind that you're shooting for the stars
when really you're not.
Because what Allah has in store for you
is far greater than what your mind can
ever comprehend.
It's far bigger than what you can ever
dream of or think of.
Now if somebody looks at the Prophet ﷺ
they will look at his life and they
will say that man, this kid has such
an unfortunate life.
He was born without a father.
His father has passed away.
He's growing up as an orphan.
He doesn't have this.
He doesn't have that.
Because he wasn't left back with money.
Which is why the story of Halima Sa
'idiya becomes a very interesting story considering that
he was the only one who nobody wanted
to come and pick up and take.
But there's years later the Prophet ﷺ is
an adult now.
He's grown.
He's grown.
He's an adult.
He's a prophet.
And you have two narrations.
You have one narration that says that the
Prophet ﷺ could not wake up in the
night to pray to Hajar because he was
sick.
He was ill.
It was early prophethood.
He was ill.
He didn't wake up to pray to Hajar
for some time.
And in not waking up to pray to
Hajar for some time revelation had also slowed
down.
So he thought to himself that because I
wasn't waking up for tahajjud God did not
come.
God is not giving me any type of
revelation.
So he started to feel sad.
He started to feel sad.
Now this is a true soldier of Allah.
You know why?
Because revelation by no means was easy.
When the Prophet ﷺ would receive revelation I
know we haven't gone through the first revelation
yet.
But when he would receive revelation, Aisha ﷺ
narrates that there was a night that it
was very cold.
It was like winter.
It was extremely cold.
And the Prophet ﷺ started to exhibit signs
of seeing revelation.
And he broke out into a sweat until
her legs were wet.
That's how heavy it was.
You have narrations of the Prophet ﷺ receiving
revelation on a camel and the animal's legs
buckle.
That Aisha says his head was on my
legs and they fell.
Like her legs fell because of how heavy
it was.
And this is early prophethood.
So now in early prophethood the Prophet ﷺ
is yearning for something that is difficult upon
him just because he knows that it comes
from Allah.
So he's thinking to himself man, I haven't
prayed tahajjud.
He didn't miss a formal prayer.
He didn't miss a prayer that was obligatory.
He was sick and he didn't pray tahajjud.
We don't wake up for tahajjud and we're
like sunnah anyway.
Just make my du'as after every prayer.
Which is fine.
It's okay.
But you have to push towards being greater.
And so in that happening then he felt
a little bit distant.
Like maybe there's distance between me and revelation.
In another narration I know I didn't tell
you what was revealed after that.
Don't worry, I got you.
In another narration it says that there is
a time period.
In the beginning of revelation the Prophet ﷺ
was still getting used to how often revelation
would come.
And there's a difference of opinion.
Some say you know what?
Fathatu Wahi this break in revelation happened multiple
times.
While others say he's just getting used to
it.
Because the first revelation comes then shortly after
the second revelation comes.
But you don't know.
Is it days apart?
Is it events?
Or is it informational?
It's new to him.
He doesn't know this.
So some time had went by and it
says that the wife of Abu Lahab came
to him and said it seems like your
devil hasn't visited you in a long time.
Okay?
It seems like your devil hasn't visited you
in a long time.
To which the Prophet ﷺ became sad.
One, he doesn't care that she called Jibril
ﷺ a devil.
He doesn't care.
He could care less.
What made him sad was you're right.
I haven't gotten revelation in some time.
Both narrations point to something.
He was yearning to feel and to hear
the Quran.
That's what he was yearning for.
He was yearning for the revelation to come
to him.
Because it was a part of him now.
And Allah ﷻ then revealed Surah Al-Duha.
So Allah ﷻ says to the Prophet ﷺ
reveals this to the Prophet ﷺ.
And he says to him What Duha?
Now whenever Allah ﷻ swears by something, He
swears by something that is tangible.
Something that you can feel.
My academy students, they remember this.
Okay?
We went through like all of the wows.
All of the oaths.
Okay?
So when Allah ﷻ swears by something, He's
not going to swear by something that is
not real.
He won't swear by like unicorns.
Okay?
For instance.
He will swear by things that you can
see and you can feel so that you
know that what comes after this is as
true as what you're feeling or what he's
saying.
So he says What Duha?
He swears by the morning and the brightness
of the morning.
Duha is different from Fajr.
Fajr is dawn.
Right?
Fajr is like right after Fajr time basically.
That's what that means.
It's when you see the little light in
the sky and that's when you know that
you missed Fajr that little time.
Yeah, that's that time.
That's Fajr.
Duha is the time before the zina.
It is before the sun has reached its
highest point but it's very bright outside.
So Allah ﷻ swears by Duha.
He says What Duha?
And then he says وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى And
he swears by the night when it covers
with darkness.
And then you are getting a contrast.
We're going to get a contrast in this
entire surah.
So you get the brightness of the morning
and then Allah ﷻ says when the night
comes in and it covers.
Meaning the night comes in and it covers
this brightness and it makes it dark.
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى Your Lord has
not left you.
Your Lord has not left you وَمَا قَلَى
and He has not made you little.
Like Allah has not made you that He
has given you a connection and He took
it away.
Allah has not forsaken you.
Allah has not left you by yourself.
Now he's talking to the Prophet ﷺ.
Right?
The Prophet ﷺ who was born without a
father.
The Prophet ﷺ who went off without his
mother.
The Prophet ﷺ who lost his grandfather.
Like that's who he's talking to.
And sometimes we feel a loss of people
that we love and we're very close with.
And those people leave us.
Why?
Because they belong to Allah.
And sometimes you feel alone.
You feel like I once had this person
I could call and talk to.
I once had this person that really loved
me more than I loved myself.
I once had this person that taught me
who I was or who I am.
And you have this very close connection with
them.
But when they go you feel like man
Allah you've just left me alone.
Allah's like no you don't need people.
You need Allah.
He's giving you the love of those people
out of His kindness and His compassion.
Not because we deserve it.
Not because there's anything that we've done to
deserve it or to warrant it.
Just because Allah is compassionate and He's merciful.
He borrowed them to us.
And so Allah ﷻ says just similarly that
with revelation it is something that comes at
Allah's time.
It doesn't come when the Prophet ﷺ asked
for it.
And it's not the only time Allah is
going to mention this.
He'll mention it to him and so to
Maryam as well.
It doesn't just come when the Prophet ﷺ
asked for it.
Allah ﷻ says just because you don't have
this thing that feels tangible like that is
your connection to me doesn't mean that you
don't have a connection to Allah.
It doesn't mean it.
Salah is a means.
It's a means to an end.
Adhkar is a means to an end.
Tahajjud is a means to an end.
The Qur'an is a means to an
end.
Where is that end?
To Allah.
So when we're sitting here, group of women,
you cannot pray, does that mean you don't
have a relationship with Allah?
No.
No, why?
Because Allah is always there.
So Allah ﷻ tells the Prophet ﷺ, مَا
وَدَّعْكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَا Your Lord has not
left you and made you little.
وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنَ الْاُولَةِ And this world
is nothing actually.
But the Hereafter, where you're gonna go and
you're gonna reunite with the people that you
love and you care about so much, that
is what's better.
That is what's better.
This world, everything that the dunya has promised
you is actually nothing.
It's not real, it's not tangible, and it's
not promised.
It's not promised, but what Allah has promised
for you in the Hereafter, it's 100%
going to happen.
It's 100% going to happen.
And then Allah SWT says, وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْتِيكَ رَبُّكَ
فَتَرُضَى And your Lord is going to give
you so much you will be satisfied.
You will be satisfied.
Remember though, this is early Meccan.
This is early Meccan.
You ever go through it?
Like deep, deep, like when it rains, it
pours, go through it.
You know the problems are like trickling, snowball
effect.
And someone says, God has something in store
for you.
Exactly.
That like, that little smirk, laugh.
You know, you want to look at them
and say, can I just shake you really
hard, but in the nicest way possible?
That's what you want.
That's how you want to react.
Why?
Because you're going through it, and it's very
hard.
But Allah did not just say Allah has
something in store for him.
He didn't say that.
Allah SWT tells the Prophet ﷺ, وَلَا صَوْفًا
صَوْفًا means soon.
Okay?
Because when people say God has something in
store for you, they say it to you
like it's coming tomorrow, or like it's coming
in five minutes.
Allah SWT tells you like, dunya is hard.
Allah does not sugarcoat it.
Dunya is hard.
Do you think that you were claimed to
be a believer and not be tested like
those who were tested before you?
So it's an un-kaboot?
That's what Allah says.
Allah didn't say, oh, you're going to be
a believer, rainbows and butterflies, living your best
life, every single day.
Allah did not tell you that.
Allah told you that you will be tested,
and it will be difficult.
So what does he tell the Prophet ﷺ?
وَلَا صَوْفًا and soon.
Maybe not today, but soon.
يُعْتِيكَ رَبُّكَ Your Lord, not anyone else.
Your Lord, the one who has nourished you,
taken care of you, has been there for
you.
He shall give you فَتَغْرُدَا what you will
be satisfied with.
What is going to make me happy, content,
and satisfied?
I promise you will not make you guys
happy, content, and satisfied.
I promise you.
Why?
Because I am who I am because this
is who God created me.
Just like who you are, who you are,
and that's who Allah created you to be.
Just like there are things that you love
and things that you're attached to and things
that will make you happy, there are things
that make other people in this room happy
that's completely opposite.
So Allah ﷻ is telling the Prophet ﷺ
don't dream of someone else's dream.
Dream of your own.
Dream of your own.
And then Allah ﷻ tells the Prophet ﷺ
let me take you down the memory lane.
And he does this with Musa ﷺ too.
Musa ﷺ is going through it.
When it rains, it pours.
He thought he got out of the rain.
And Allah is like, actually I want you
to go right back to the mud.
Go right back.
And Musa ﷺ says, send me all of
these things.
I need it.
And Allah ﷻ tells him, you got it.
وَلَقَدَ مَنَنَّ عَلَيْكَ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى Don't forget.
We blessed you before.
اتأوهَيْنَا إِلَىٰ أُمِّكَ مَعَيُّهَا When we told your
mother what we told her.
Allah ﷻ does the same thing the Prophet
ﷺ here.
He says, أَلَمْ يَجِدِّكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى Did we
not find you as an orphan?
يَتِيم means someone who lost their father.
So the Prophet ﷺ, we started by saying
that he had obviously parents, a mother and
a father.
And his father passed away before he was
born.
Which made him what?
An orphan.
So Allah ﷻ goes first for the first
thing.
He says, أَلَمْ يَجِدِّكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى Did we
not find you alone as an orphan?
And give you refuge.
But Allah is interesting.
Because when Yusuf ﷺ was reunited with his
family, Allah ﷻ uses the same type of
verbiage.
It means love.
Like when Yusuf ﷺ sees Benjamin, he gives
him this like, this like brotherly like hug,
like I haven't seen you in so long.
And you remember what we said that the
name of the Prophet ﷺ meant?
The one who is often praised?
That companions have their narrations or narrations or
narrations of the love that they have for
the Prophet ﷺ.
So much so, it got compiled into this
own book and called the Shema'id.
And these are companions who just sat down.
And they loved him so much, it sounds
weird, that they would just stare at him.
They just loved him so much that they
stared.
See, the intensive students I shared the narration
about the companion who looked at the Prophet
ﷺ, stared at him, looked at the moon,
looked at him, looked at the, to the
point it was so awkward, the Prophet ﷺ
asked him like, are you okay?
Like what's going on here?
And he says, Ya Rasulullah, I'm looking at
the full moon, Badran, I'm looking at the
full moon, and I'm looking at your face,
and I'm trying to determine what is more
beautiful.
And I've determined, Ya Rasulullah, that you are
more beautiful.
And when the Prophet ﷺ passed away, the
companions are there and they're looking at him.
And Abu Bakr as-Siddiq ﷺ, can you
imagine, a grown man, has so much strength
and stature.
He's so like, think about the most manly
person you could possibly think about, that's Abu
Bakr as-Siddiq.
And he comes and he pulls the shroud
from the face of the Prophet ﷺ.
And he kisses him on the forehead.
And he says, Ya Rasulullah, you were beautiful
in life, and you were ever so, even
more beautiful in death.
Because they loved him.
They loved him so much.
A companion comes, he's like, you know what?
I love the Prophet ﷺ a lot.
I do.
And I know that the Prophet ﷺ loves
me as much as I love him.
And he goes to him.
And he says, who do you love the
most?
I would have given myself the egg, to
be honest.
But who do you love the most?
And the Prophet ﷺ says, Aisha.
And he says, I get it.
It's kind of your wife.
Yeah, exactly.
He says, after her, the Prophet ﷺ says,
Abuha, her father.
He's like, makes sense, father-in-law type
of situation.
And he asks again, the Prophet ﷺ gives
a different name, until he goes, keeps going.
And he says, eventually I stopped.
But he wanted the Prophet ﷺ to love
him the most, because he loved him so
much.
Allah ﷻ telling the Prophet ﷺ, أَلَمْ يَجِدِكَ
يَتِيمًا فَآوَى Didn't we find you as an
orphan?
And orphans were not taken care of.
People did not love them.
They did not treat them like they were
human.
They would just throw money at them, sometimes,
and just push them and disregard them to
the side.
And Allah ﷻ says, أَلَمْ يَجِدِكَ يَتِيمًا Did
we not find you an orphan?
As what people would disregard and treat as
nothing.
فَآوَى And give you so much love.
Down to your name, the one who's praised
so often.
And then Allah ﷻ says, وَوَجَدَكَ دَالًا فَهَدًا
And we found you without direction.
And gave you purpose.
Gave you purpose.
The Prophet ﷺ was known as صادق الأمين
from his entire life.
The truthful, the trustworthy.
Allah ﷻ protected him from the moment he
was, before he was even born, we talked
about.
Until he died, Allah ﷻ protected him.
Allah ﷻ gave him purpose.
وَوَجَدَكَ آئِلًا فَأَغْنَا And we found you poor.
But آئِلًا is different.
It's not even poor.
وَوَجَدَكَ آئِلًا We found you in need.
You were in need.
فَأَغْنَا We made you self-sufficient.
The morning before the Battle of Badr, you
don't find the Prophet ﷺ asking anybody for
help.
You don't find him.
You find the Prophet ﷺ where?
Praying to Allah.
Because whether people show up to the battlefield
or not, he's gonna be there.
He was okay.
He's standing there praying to Allah.
That was what the Prophet ﷺ was doing.
When the Prophet ﷺ went to Ta'if,
very common question.
What happened to him?
Why was he by himself?
He was self-sufficient.
The companions that Allah blessed him with were
just that, a blessing.
And that was more for us than it
was for the Prophet ﷺ.
Allah blessed him with that.
Allah blessed him with that for us.
The Prophet ﷺ was leaving Ta'if and
Zayd bin Hanifah comes to him and says,
I can help you out.
They're stoning your feet.
I know it's difficult, but Allah, I can
help you.
The Prophet ﷺ told him, go.
They're not gonna kill you.
They're not gonna kill me, but they'll kill
you.
Allah ﷻ is telling him here that people
normally when they are going through something and
they can't handle it and life is difficult
and tough, they just need so much.
They need so much.
It's not about not needing people.
Sometimes you don't even know what you need,
so you grapple at everything.
This is why people have consumer problems.
They spend a bunch of money.
They waste a lot of time because you
don't know.
Being self-sufficient doesn't mean that you don't
need anyone.
It means that you know what you need
and that's Allah.
So Allah ﷻ says to the Prophet ﷺ,
وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلًا فَأَغْنًا And we found you in
need and we made you self-sufficient so
you know what your purpose is.
Then he says, now it's time to return
the favor.
فَأَمَّلْ يَتِيمًا So when you go and you
see the orphans, فَلَا تَقَهَرْ Don't treat them
like they're less powerful.
تَقَهَرْ means to put someone down.
Oppression is usually what you would get as
the translation.
But this is a different word.
It means to treat someone in such an
unfair, cruel way to make them feel like
they're nothing.
And what does Allah ﷻ start off with
in Surah At-Duha?
He tells the Prophet ﷺ, مَا وَدَّأَكَ رَبُّكَ
وَمَا قَلَى Your Lord has not left you
nor has He made you feel like you're
nothing.
He didn't detest you.
So similarly, you're going to come across people
who people leave to the side and make
them feel like they're nothing.
Don't make people feel that way.
وَأَمَّا سَائِلَ And when the beggar comes, the
one who has no choice but to ask,
فَلَا تَنْهَرْ Then don't make that person feel
like they're embarrassed.
Don't yell at them.
Don't embarrass them.
وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ But when it comes to
the blessings of your Lord and what He
has bestowed upon you, فَحَدِّث Speak about it.
Why?
Why?
Allah is reminding the Prophet ﷺ.
He's reminding him.
Not that the Prophet ﷺ ever treated anyone
badly.
No.
He's reminding him that you didn't have all
of the amenities that people grew up with.
But just because you don't have what everybody
else has, doesn't mean you didn't have anything.
And sometimes we look and we see the
other things that people have and we think
of ourselves as, man, I got the short
end of the stick.
When truly, truly, comparison is the thief of
joy.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Oh, this person got this, and they got
that, and they're living like this, and they're
moving here, and they got this car, and
they got this job, and we did the
same major, and how come I didn't get
this offer?
Because it's not your life.
If God wanted it for you, guess what?
You would have it.
But just because you didn't get that, should
it be your origin of a villain story?
Absolutely not.
Because there's still blessings that you have that
other people do not have.
We all have more than someone else and
less than someone else.
That's the reality of it.
Alhamdulillah.
So Allah SWT reminds the Prophet ﷺ in
Surah al-Duha.
He reminds him this.
But I wanted to bring this particular surah
in this context for multiple reasons.
The first thing is that, you know, we're
in the holiday season, and everybody's showing off
all the things that they're grateful for.
And sometimes, let's call it the end-of
-the-year wrap, okay?
People are doing their own personal life end
-of-the-year wrap, you know?
Everybody's like, I thought I didn't accomplish anything
this year, but let me show you all
the great things I've done.
And I love it for the people on
the Internet.
I do.
But sometimes you don't realize, as a consumer,
what you're doing.
You're there, and you're looking at these highlights
of people's lives.
And all of a sudden, you're realizing, oh,
I've lost people I love this year.
Oh, I wanted this job, and I didn't
get it.
Oh, I wanted this opportunity, and I didn't
have it.
Oh, I made dua for this thing, and
I didn't get it.
And it just so happens that you open
up your timeline, and you see this person
is celebrating time with their mother, or their
father, or their grandparents, or their child, that
maybe someone's lost.
And you see that they got that job,
and they got that car, and they got
that home, and they did that program, and
these are all the things that you've wanted.
And all of a sudden, you feel like,
man, my life, or this year that I
had was so unfulfilled, when truly that is
actually not the reality of that life, or
that year, this year.
Sure, it was difficult, but nobody's posting their
difficulty rap of the year.
And even if they are, let's be honest,
they're not posting it real for real.
Right?
We've had quite the year of being front
row in watching people that we may not
know, but we have deep love for be
killed in our face.
And for us to have the audacity to
be ungrateful to Allah for the comfort that
He has provided us in this year is
actually insane.
It is actually insane.
Which is why Allah SWT is telling us
Surah Al-Duha is revealed at that time
for the Prophet ﷺ, but it's revealed for
us.
What is Allah saying to you and I?
He's saying, listen, open your eyes, just like
you see the morning, and how bright it
is.
Just like we're looking outside and seeing the
night and how dark it is.
Allah brought you here to know that He
has not left you hanging.
That's first and foremost.
But secondly, yes, you've gone through it.
Allah SWT tells Prophet ﷺ what?
You were an orphan, you were lost, you
didn't have anything, you've gone through it.
But just because you've gone through it doesn't
give you the excuse to be ungrateful.
فَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ Remember the blessings your Lord
has given you, bestowed upon you, and showered
you with.
فَحَدِّث Speak about it.
Not boast.
Not boast.
Mention.
Why?
We forget.
We forget.
We forget to be grateful that we get
to see our family members.
We forget to be grateful that we have,
I don't know, coffee.
We forget to be grateful we have a
job.
We forget to be grateful we have a
home.
There are people living in tents.
Not just in Gaza.
Not just in Congo.
Not just in Sudan.
Not just in Gambia.
Down the street in Dallas, Texas.
Down the street.
There are people who do not have homes.
And they're grateful for clean water.
For clean water, that is what they're grateful
for.
So when you reminisce, and you think about
your year.
What is it that I have?
What is it that I've accomplished?
What is it that I didn't get?
What do I want to get next year?
All these things.
How about you slow down?
How about you slow down?
And how about you practice a very easy
phrase?
And that is, الحمد لله All praise and
thanks is due to Allah.
Why?
Because Allah has given me everything I need
and more.
Even if you don't have what you want.
It does not matter.
It is okay.
الحمد لله So the prophet's life, these verses,
these ayat that we're going through, they are
here to also remind us of our own
life.
They're here to remind us of our own
life.
So even if, and there's possibility, someone in
this room has lost their parents.
Perhaps someone in this room has their parents,
but they don't have a relationship with their
parents.
Maybe someone in this room has gone through
life feeling alone.
You're not alone.
Why?
Because Allah is there for you.
The nature of us though, is we forget
to show up.
Allah is there for us, but we have
to show up.
So our New Year's resolution, I hate New
Year's resolutions by the way, but I have
four New Years, not going to lie, okay?
Because I just start them over and over
again, you know?
And I don't believe in being judged, okay?
So don't judge me, alright?
Relax.
You're giving judgmental eyes right now, and I
do not appreciate it, okay?
Our New Year's resolution this year, this year,
I'm making it for you, alright?
Is gratitude.
Is gratitude.
Is to be in constant and consistent gratitude
to Allah for that which He has given
us and that which He has not given
us.
Because it is okay.
That is our New Year's resolution.
So I pray that Allah SWT allows us
to benefit from everything that we heard here
today.
I pray that Allah SWT forgives us all
of our shortcomings.
That Allah SWT allows us to have hearts
that are always connected to Him.
I pray that Allah SWT allows us to
gather in a gathering much better than this.
And that on the Day of Judgment, we're
able to drink from the blessed hands of
the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
SubhanakAllah wa bihamdika.
Nashadu an la ilaha illa anta.
Nastaghfiru fil amalatubu ilayk.
JazakAllah khayran.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Alright.
Any questions?
Hi.
I was wondering if I was going to
see you today.
No, it's fine.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Very good.
So how do you speak on the blessings
of Allah without without ayn or like hasad
coming your way?
Two things.
The first thing is speaking of it doesn't
mean you have to speak to someone about
it.
You know, so this is why, again, I
understand, you know, people like to capitalize on
Islamic stuff.
The gratitude journals are an Islamic thing.
Okay?
Because God just told us to do one.
And it's more so about you reminding yourself
of the blessings that Allah has given you.
So that's one thing.
The second thing is that we're in such
a weird time.
And I know that I feel every time
I talk like this, everybody thinks I'm an
Internet hater.
And I'm a little bit of an Internet
hater, just a little bit.
We're in such a weird time where we
feel like the way to show that we're
grateful for something is by showing off the
things we're grateful for.